


Hearing is Believing

by neuroticscales



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Blindness, M/M, dorky Dave rocks my socks, it's not as cheesy as it sounds i swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-23
Updated: 2013-09-01
Packaged: 2017-12-24 09:42:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/938469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neuroticscales/pseuds/neuroticscales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John moves into a new town, hoping for a fresh start. But, it's even more terrible than it was before- he gets teased every day and it just keeps getting worse. A small, tight-knit group of friends helps, but all he could ask for is a boyfriend to support him as well.</p><p>Dave is in his Junior year with a clique of kids he doesn't want to call friends, without a boyfriend, and very unhappy.</p><p>Soon, worlds collide, and they become great friends. Both of them know that they want more out of their relationship, but will John's blindness be a hindrance, or a gift?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Like a Superhero

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and thanks for reading! This is my first work and I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> (Actual notes: This chapter is told from both John and Dave's POVs. I will most likely do that with all the chapters, but with different times in the days and blah blah blah, I'm bad at explaining this. You'll see, I suppose! And just in case you were curious, John and Dave are both 16 in this story. Dirk and Jake are in their mid-to-late twenties. If there's anything else you want to know, just stick it in the comments!)
> 
> [Also, AO3 is saying this is only one chapter-- it is not!]

Your name is John Egbert and why did you decide to go to this awful school.

"Hey Egbert, can I have the time?" the resident school bully shouts. Your tongue scrapes like sandpaper across the roof of your mouth. He obviously knows that you can’t do that, he’s just a dick. Has been since you arrived. You chose to attend a normal high school so you wouldn’t feel like an outcast; turns out that you got just the opposite. You know it’s truly not your fault that you have this problem, but that doesn’t stop you from thinking it is anyway. You’re a freak. A social reject. This is why you don’t believe in God; if he loves everyone, why did he fuck you over into this situation? 

But you take a deep breath and repeat your therapist-given mantra in your head, “Being blind is not a crime."

"I- I’m afraid I can’t help you there," you say quietly, your voice cracking. God, how embarrassing. “I’m sorry." The bully, Eridan, laughs and so do his friends, a bit too raucously. 

"And w-why is that?" he asks, shoving you on the last word, to which you stumble backwards but thankfully don’t fall. You feel beads of sweat running down your back when you hear a gasp; from whom it came, you are unsure.

"I think you know why he can’t do that," an unknown voice says. The voice is smooth, calm, more than a little bit threatening, and has a slight Southern twang. You know your friends’ voices, who often get you out of tough situations like this— Jade’s bubbly cheerfulness; Jake’s stately British accent; Rose’s, like tinkling windchimes. This boy, he’s a mystery.

"W-what w-ill you do if I don’t?" Eridan says. You have no idea why he says this, but you do know that Eridan’s stutter gets worse when he’s nervous, the reason being that you’ve had enough classes with him in which he gives you Hell every day to hear it all too often. You hear the boy whisper something, to which the bullies “ooh" at, unimpressed, and you can finally hear their footsteps as they leave.

You thank all Gods- inconceivable or otherwise- for this boy. He saved you from broken glasses, dirtied clothes, a spilled backpack. He’s wonderful and you don’t even know him. 

You aren’t even sure if the boy is still there, but you try to speak to him anyway. 

"Thank you, but… who exactly are you? I don’t recognise your voice." There is silence for a moment and you silently curse yourself, but then he finally speaks. 

"You can call me Strider, if you’re cool with that," he says, to which you smile and move your eyes in the general direction of his voice and hope they’re directed at his face. It’s just awkward when you can’t look someone in the eye without having to grope around their face, which your friends, of course, let you do. But this is certainly not one of those cases, although you wish it was.

"As in Dave Strider?" you ask, surprised. 

"Yeah, why?" He sounds a bit caught off guard at the question. Confused, even. You shift your cane to your other hand to pull up your backpack strap. You’re a bit nervous; this boy seems nice, very nice- he did save you from getting beaten up, after all- but it seems as if you've already offended him.

"You’re the most popular boy in school after being here for only two weeks! I’ve heard a lot about you." At this, Dave scoffs. 

"Oh, have you?" And you just know that he’s smirking, you can practically feel it. You mentally slap yourself for saying something so ludicrous.

"Don’t worry, only good things!" You say, trying to dig yourself out of a hole. “And my friend, uh… knows your brother."

"Mm," Dave says in reply. “Well, my bro knows a lot of people."

"Jake?" You suggest, fidgeting with your glasses anxiously.

"Ah, Jake. Adventurer extraordinaire. I’d say he more than knows him, don’t ‘ya think?" Dave replies with a dry chuckle. Seemingly out of nowhere, the bell rings, cutting your conversation short.

Dave places a hand on your shoulder. You flinch involuntarily at the unexpected weight and the hand is quickly removed.

"Sorry, man. Well, uh… hear you around?" You laugh. 

"Hear you around."

——-

Your name is Dave Strider and why the fuck are they picking on the blind kid.

With your Bro’s help of constantly teaching you how to perfect irony so it came off as cool and not too aloof, you quickly became to the token “cool kid" as soon as you moved here, but you certainly aren’t cool enough not to help this kid. He’s practically shaking with terror; the back of his neck is sweating, you can see it from here. You gather up your courage and walk up to Eridan.

"What a little prick," you think. Picking on the blind kid, the fucking BLIND kid. It sucks that he won’t get to see when you punch Eridan in the face. 

"I think you know why he can’t do that," you say, placing a firm hand on Eridan’s shoulders. John looks like you just descended from Heaven, eyes wide and mouth gaping. You look at Eridan right in the eyes, and mouth one word. “Go." He doesn’t leave but instead gives you a pompous smirk. God, what a fucking douchebag. You don’t think you’ve ever hated anyone more than Eridan right now.

"W-what w-ill you do if I don’t?" Hmm, a kid with a stutter picking on a blind boy. Nice. You silence him by digging your fingers into his shoulder and get up close and personal with his ear.

"You don’t want to know," you whisper threateningly. He gets a look of mock terror on his face, throwing up his hands in surrender, but stalks off, leaving you and John alone. Finally. 

John gives you a lazy, far away smile. Well… the air next to you. You quickly scoot sideways so his eyes are actually on you and strike up a conversation. You talk with him for only a short time and realize that you could really be friends with this boy. And well, his friend is dating your brother, and they seem pretty good for each other, so why couldn’t you be friends with John? You place your hand lightly on his shoulder, at which he flinches. 

"Sorry, man," you say, removing your hand. “Well, uh, hear you around?" You immediately want to take the words and stuff them back in your mouth, but he laughs lightly. Thank god he has a good sense of humor.

"Hear you around."


	2. Chips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Dave are getting closer, but John's friends aren't sure what to think. Jade fears that he will just be mean like the others, but little does she know, befriending Dave will be the best thing that's happened to John in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two is complete! Thank you for all the hits/kudos, guys, you're all amazing! Comments are also greatly appreciated; I love getting feedback. 
> 
> Chapter One was more John than Dave; now I've flipped things around and Dave's part is the longer section! More Dave for you to love...

Your name is John Egbert and your friends are really overprotective of you sometimes.

Suffocatingly so. Which is why, when you want to invite Dave to lunch with you, they are not quick to agree.

"John, we don't even know this boy," Jade offers. "Hell, you don't even know this boy!" You screw up your face into a frown.

"Yes I do! We had a whole conversation, and he's really nice!" you say enthusiastically. "And, Jake is going out with his brother."

One side of Rose's mouth turns up in a knowing smirk. "Is he really?" You nod enthusiatically.

"You guys have to trust me," you finish pleadingly. Jade sighs. 

"Karkat? What's your opinion on this?" You brace yourself, knowing he's going to protest.

"You know what? I actually agree with John on this one," he says. Everyone in your group, including you, shares a collective gasp.

"What?"Jade exclaims. You're just as surprised, if not more so. Karkat is ever the arguer, and quite frankly, you expected him to do just that. But he's arguing for your case this time!

"I, too, agree with John," Kanaya states in her elegant yet monotonus tone. "I believe this will give John a good chance to make another friend. And if our good friend Jake is dating this boy's brother, he is most likely trustworthy." Rose gives her trademark small, black-lipped smile.

"I agree as well. You can never have too many friends," she says. You beam at them, and Jade throws up her hands in mock frustration.

"Well, guess Dave's eating with us," she says. You open your arms wide, which your friends know means you want a hug. Jade throws herself into them and embraces you tightly.

"Thanks guys," you say. "I knew you would come around."

\-----

Your name is Dave Strider and why do these idiots want to hang out with you, anyway.

You aren't even really cool. You're psudo-cool. Ironically cool. And ironically cool and actually cool are two very different things.

You frown into your shitty school pizza and stare daggers at the idiotic girl hitting on you. You feel like the effect is probably lost because of your sunglasses, which turns out to be correct when the stare doesn't deter her. 

"C'mon, what's up?" she says. You frown again, directly at her. 

"I'm not. Interested," you reply with gritted teeth. This enrages her to a ridiculous level.

"What, am I not hot enough?" she screeches, her voice rising an octave. 

"No, you're fucking annoying. Jesus Christ," you say, thoroughly unamused. Suddenly, you hear your name. 

"Dave?" You turn and see Jade with John hung on her arm, and quickly stand up to walk over.

"Yeah?" 

"Would you like to..." John trails off. His eyes drift to the ceiling. Jade elbows him in the ribs, which makes him giggle. Those flutters in your stomach are definitely the shitty pizza. 

"Would you like to eat lunch with us?" he asks, a hopeful smile across his face. You blow out a puff of air in relief, but try to remain your cool swagger.

"Sure," you say. You're ridiculously thankful for the offer. That girl was getting way too fucking annoying. But it was still amusing, especially because you don't even like girls. In that way, at least. You walk back to the table and sit down where Jade points, but John remains standing. 

"This is Rose, Kanaya, Karkat, and you already know Jade!" he said, pointing to them in turn with practiced ease. Wait, how the hell did he do that? John smiles and replies with something that pretty much convinces you that he's a mind reader. 

"We sit the same place every day so it's easier for me to look at them when I want to address them directly," he says, and sits down.

"Ah," you reply. 

"I smell that you chose the pizza today," John says, chuckling. "You want some Doritos?" He offers the bag. 

"Holy shit, dude, you sure?" you say, one eyebrow raised. He nods emphatically. You reach in and grab a handful, munching with what you think might be a smile on your face...? Rose seems to takes notice.

"Hmm," she murmurs. "Is that a bright, sunny smile on the face of Dave Strider? Thought you were too cool for emotions." She actually has the nerve to make air quotes with her fingers around the word "cool." Fucking air quotes!

"Wipe that shit-eating grin off your face, Lalonde," you say, going back to your usual frown. Her grin widens.

"In your dreams, Strider."

"Do you two... know each other?" John asks quizzically. Rose smirks yet again.

"My mother... hmm," she began. "To put it delicately, she knew his brother. That's about it." You chuckle. 

"To put it delicately, they had a one night stand and fucked on and off for about a month," you say. John gasps, then giggles. He fucking giggles. "But yeah. Rose and I weren't really friends after that. But now we have to be, considering Egbert here and me are best buddies," you say, elbowing him and shoving your hand back in the chip bag. 

"Hey!" he says, elbowing you back, but laughing all the while. You're finishing the rest of your chips when the bell rings, signalling the end of lunch and the start of the daily ten minute break period.

"Ugh, lunch is over already?" John whines. "That felt way shorter than usual." Rose laughs like windchimes.

"That's because it was shorter than usual," she says. John gives her a questioning look. "It's a half day, Johnny dearest." John gives her a look like she had explained the entire galaxy to him in a single, brief sentence. You laugh through this entire exchange, reaching under your glasses to wipe away a tear.

"Oh!" he exclaims excitedly. "I completely forgot!" At this you chuckle a little, more of an aftershock following your laugh earthquake.

"We noticed." You and Rose say this in unison. It is incredibly creepy and you hope it never happens again. 

Everyone leaves the lunch table and scatters out, Rose going with Kanaya to do god knows what, Jade touching John's arm and softly asking him if he can get to his next class by himself. He nods emphatically-- he seems to be excited about everything, all the time-- and walks over to you, holding out an arm to feel for yours. He makes contact and grips your forearm lightly. You tense, the hairs on your arms standing up.

"Would you like to, uh," he trails off.

"Out with it, Egbert," you snap.

"Do you wanna come over and study with me tonight? Exams are two weeks from now...," You can practically hear the ellipses drip off his sentence. You shrug. 

"Sure, man," you say, trying to keep your cool but you are almost nearly wetting yourself. In the movies, "studying" is usually code for making out and jesus, you hope this boy likes you and wants to do exactly that. You don't even know if he's gay but you can't help but let your mind wander. He's fucking gorgeous and oh god, you're such a dork.

He pats your shoulder and scribbles his address on your hand, making sure you read it back to him to ensure its legibility. You assure him it is, and he pats you on the arm and says, "Come over whenever!", waving his goodbye and nearly skipping to go to his next class.

And you cannot. Fucking. Wait.


	3. Aquamarine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave goes to John's house to study. That's really all I can say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading! And I really appreciate the kudos/hits/bookmarks, you are all amazing.

Your name is Dave Strider and you are at your crush's house right now holy shit.

"So, are Rose and Kanaya...," you trail off.

"Are Rose and Kanaya what?" John replies. Ugh. This boy is hopeless. But, he is also trying to concentrate on the history textbook in front of him, so he gets a little leeway. And, of course, he's cute. 

"Are they dating?" 

"Yep!" he replies happily. "And so are Jade and Karkat. Well, they're fighting right now. But they kind of always do that." 

"Hmm," you say. He didn't say anything about himself going out with anyone.

"I'm the only one without a mate!" He doesn't sound sad when he says this. He also didn't say "girlfriend", either. He said mate. Which doesn't even necessarily mean anything, but you manage to convince yourself that it does.

"Hey, I don't have a... mate, either," you say. "The girls hit on me but I'm not really, uh, interested in them." Fuck. Did you really just say that? His widening eyes tell you you did. You sounded like a cocky fucker and basically let it slip that you're gay to a boy you met a week ago. Fantastic. 

"I guess we have to go out now, huh? Complete the cycle!" he says, turning back to his textbook. Wait, what? You're pretty sure he's joking. Almost one hundred percent sure. But your stomach still jumps to your throat and you can barely let out a chuckle. 

"Yeah, you want to go out, Egbert?" You nearly vomit from fake-asking him out because you want it to be real. God, you want it to be real. He sighs and puts a hand to his forehead, damsel-in-distress style.

"Oh, Dave, I thought you'd never ask!" he says dramatically. You choke out a laugh. He's looking forward with a lazy smile, absentmindedly reading the braille on the textbook in front of him. 

You stare at his lips and thank fuck he can't see you because you're staring and staring and staring and oh my fucking god he's kissing you. His lips are warm and soft and there's a lot of built-up unresolved passion but you can't even notice because he's kissing you, he's kissing YOU. John Egbert is kissing you. The same John Egbert that you've been yearning for and watching for weeks, and no, that's not creepy. He breaks away with this terrified look on his face and fuck, he's beautiful. His eyes are the bluest you've ever seen and his lips are gorgeous and his skin is porcelain perfect and, shit, how do you know when you're in love with someone? 

He fumbles for his cane and bolts out of the room, smashing his shoulder on the door frame as he runs out. He slams the door shut and far off, you can hear another one open and shut louder than is probably necessary. 

You brush your fingers across your lips.

"Oh my god."

\-----

Your name is John Egbert and WHY THE FUCK DID YOU JUST DO THAT? 

You lock yourself in the bathroom, holding your banged-up shoulder.

"Oh god, he's so pissed at me," you think. A tear runs down your cheek, out of pain or simply upset, you are unaware. Christ, why are you so dumb? He hates you, he so hates you. 

"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck." You never swear this much but this is a dire situation and it is very necessary. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. 

"Don't come in!" You exclaim, realizing you didn't lock the door. Shit, you're an idiot.

"Please, John?" Dave says and whoa he called you by your first name. He never does that, it's always just Egbert, or when he's in a particularly good mood, Bucktooth Wonder. This must be important. "Please," he says again quietly, so quietly that you're not sure if you were actually meant to hear it. You hear him try the doorknob and walk in. 

"I'm really sorry," you squeak out. Suddenly Dave is right next to you on the edge of the bathtub, touching your arm.

"Don't be. I...," Dave trails off. "I like you, man. Like, a lot." You desperately try not to wet your pants.

"Really?" You ask, sniffling. His hand moves to your shoulder, dangerously close to your neck.

"Yes. I have for a while, man. I didn't think you'd ever like me back." And then his hand is on your neck, rubbing gentle circles. You calm down a bit, leaning into his touch. He places a tiny kiss on your forehead and it's so sweet you want to die. 

"You boys okay in there? I heard some slamming," your Dad says with a knock. You quickly part from Dave, sliding away to the other edge of the bathtub. 

"Yeah, we're good. You can come in if you need to, I guess," you say, to which he opens the door with a puzzled look. 

"What happened?" he asked. 

"We, uh... he," Dave starts, when your Dad holds up his hand.

"You know what, it's fine. You boys study hard, now. Exams in two weeks!" This is said as he closes the door slowly, gingerly, and walks away. You cringe, eyes squeezing shut and nose wrinkling.

"He is the chillest dad ever, you're so lucky, man!" Dave exclaims.

"It might seem that way, but that's just because you're here. He's a total...," you wave your arms in vague circles, searching for the right word, "dork." Dave laughs.

"Sure you're not talkin' about yourself, there, Egbert?" And you elbow him and he pokes you back and it's perfect. Dave is perfect. He is wonderful and beautiful and you can't even see him. 

You both exit the bathroom and he leaves with a kiss, calling to you that he'll "totally be back tomorrow".

And your life is perfect.


End file.
